Fears are growing that Bristol's Concorde could be mothballed

FEARS are growing that Bristol's Concorde could be mothballed in a hangar and permanently closed as a visitor attraction.

The iconic aeroplane has been open to visitors at Filton since 2005, but today the Evening Post can exclusively reveal that the attraction will close in the autumn – with the supersonic plane being moved into a hangar on October 15 for maintenance to be carried out.

However, Airbus UK are unable to provide a date for when the maintenance will be completed and the plane will reopen to the public – leading volunteers to fear that it

simply will not. Volunteer Phil Kirley, who is a team leader with the Bristol Aero Collection, said: "Airbus contacted us and told us they are going to move Concorde into one of the Brabazon hangars at Filton on October 15, and from that point it will no longer be open to the public.

"It's very sad, we're all very concerned by this, but we're in a position where there seems to be nothing we can do about it. It is very difficult to even get to speak to the top managers at Airbus."

Andy Treweek, visitor centre manager, who is one of just two paid employees on the project, believes he has "effectively been made redundant" from October 15.

"I've been made redundant verbally, though I've not yet been given anything in writing," he said.

"We're all disgusted by the way Airbus are handling this, in what appears to be a cynical attempt to close Concorde quietly.

"I believe the plane will be put indoors for supposed maintenance work but it will never reappear.

"They know there will be a public outcry if Concorde is closed, so I believe they are trying to get around it under the pretense of removing the plane for maintenance work."

Oliver Dearden, chairman of the Bristol Aero Collection, which manages the public tours for Airbus, said: "We have around 40 volunteers, who spend six hours a day showing visitors around the plane, and I think they're understandably concerned that there isn't a date for the maintenance to be completed.

"While we appreciate Airbus engineers maintaining the aircraft, it is hard to know what maintenance would be so technical as to need the plane to be moved indoors – after all, this is an aircraft that is never going to fly again, and is well painted-up to prevent corrosion."

Kristi Tucker, spokesman for Airbus UK, said: "Concorde is being moved into a hangar in the autumn as part of routine maintenance work. We are not able to give an indication of the timescale for this work."

The Concorde 216 made its spectacular final flight home into Filton on November 26, 2003, following a successful Evening Post campaign to bring the last Concorde to be built at Filton back to its spiritual home.

But the Filton site was only ever meant to be a temporary home for the aircraft. Plans have long been in the pipeline for the creation of a major aviation heritage centre, where planes such as Concorde would be under cover as the centrepiece of displays telling the story of the region's long-standing role in the world of aerospace.

In October 2006 an announcement was made that a site near Cribbs Causeway had been earmarked for a permanent home for the museum. A new organisation, the Concorde Trust, was set up to manage the development.

Plans for the £10 million museum took a step forward in 2008 when South Gloucestershire Council granted planning permission for the attraction behind The Venue complex at Cribbs Causeway.

But Mr Dearden said there had been no progress with the project since planning permission was granted.

Concorde Trust chairman Mike Littleton, who is also community liaison manager at Bristol Airport, was unavailable for comment yesterday.

It remains unclear what would happen to the estimated £350,000 raised so far towards the project – by visitor admission fees to Concorde – if the museum plans are scrapped.

A BA spokesman said: "We visit all eight Concorde each year to do an audit of the maintenance that has taken place on our aircraft. But the maintenance schedule itself is a matter for Airbus, as is the question of when the public is given access to the aircraft."

Mr Treweek, who has managed the centre since its opening, said: "The group who are looking after Concorde at Filton are in a state of shock. Airbus have totally shafted the Aero Collection, insomuch that they have been led them down the garden path for the last few years."

Comments

It is a worry that, if what is being reported that Concorde 216 will no longer be open to the public after October this year. However, I think there is more to this than is being explained either by the media or by an Airbus Spokesman (or spokesperson to be policitcally correct!).
If Airbus is removing the aircraft to the Brabazon Assembly Hangar it is not necessarily a bad thing. Consider the fact first and foremost that the aircraft still belongs to British Airways. They are, whether you believe it or not dedicated to preserving their Concorde fleet, they acknowledge how important it is to preserve this aircraft given it's iconic status. Secondly, the aircraft has been exposed to the elements for nearly seven years and as much as Airbus have carried out the mandatory maintenance stipulated by BA, an aircraft can only stay outside for so long. It has been reported that a hole was found in the leading edge of Concorde 216 and the possibility of their being further corrosion elsewhere is very real. With the aircraft indoors, it will allow Airbus to carry out a thorough survey of the airframe for corrosion etc to see what needs to be attended to and then carry out the required work to preserve the airframe.
The conspiracy theory that Concorde will take to the air again has been around along time. I would love it if what Andy from Maidstone wrote would be true. However, I have to be realistic here and say that she will not fly again (although I would dearly liked to be wrong about this!).
The campaign group Save Concorde Group, in my opinion, have no idea how much it would take in terms of cost and engineering resources to return her to flight. Unless Airbus re-issues the aircraft Type Certificate, then there is no chance of Concorde possibly flying again.
Anyone who believes that BA should have given their entire Concorde fleet to Richard Branson do not realise that Virgin would have had seven Concordes parked up, doing nothing due to the reason I have just given, regarding the Type Certificate.
Further more, the engine components are no longer manufactured and any replacement components for the airframe or the engines would require them to almost certainly be custom made and that in itself can be very costly.
As for Airbus UK. I think they need to be a lot more open and community-minded about their furture plans for the aircraft.

Fare point Pete.. maybe it could sit very close to the M Shed if we can't get it inside (probably a little late in the project to make alteractions but there's possibly room on the roof.. for an extra £1m
However if what Andy says could be true then the people of the UK will much rather see this back in flight and at the opening of the games in 2012. 100% better.. let's live in hope..

I think slagging off Airbus UK is a ridiculous position to take. As a former aircraft repair engineer, I can tell you that maintaining an aircraft is not a case of 'Give us 5 weeks and it will be done', you never know what you will find. The idea that Airbus will simply park the aircraft in the Brabazon hangars long-term seems daft to me, though. These buildings are prime aircraft maintenance space, capable of taking anything up to a Boeing 747, and Airbus cannot afford to rent this space indefinitely for an aircraft that isn't doing anything!
I think perhaps people should consider what Airbus' motives are for spending their money on a 'dead' aircraft. They spend their own money keeping the aircraft clean and maintaining it each week, for no financial gain. They rent the land that Alpha Foxtrot sits on, and allow visitors through their site to see it each week.
Perhaps the truth lies in something deeper than maintenance. It is no secret the the french are considering returning a Concorde to the air. After all the groundwork, engineering studies and paperwork are done, all by Airbus in Toulouse, there is no great difficulty in bringing a second aircraft out of retirement. And consider this: Alpha Foxtrot sits on the site where she was built; beside the hangars she was built in; alongside the runway she took her first flight from. The engineers who helped keep the fleet in the air for 27 years still work metres from the Brabazon hangars. Airbus UK are probably the only company in Britain capable of the project of that scale. And lastly, consider the question of national Pride. Do British Airways, the only company to make Concorde profitable, want a french Concorde in the air, advertising Air France, while all their own sit on the ground? Do the British people want a french Concorde performing a flypast at the 2012 Olympics because we can't get one of our own to do it? I think not. Rather than hurling abuse at Airbus UK, I think we should consider that they might, on the quiet, be bringing Alpha Fox back to life.

I think slagging off Airbus UK is a ridiculous position to take. As a former aircraft repair engineer, I can tell you that maintaining an aircraft is not a case of 'Give us 5 weeks and it will be done', you never know what you will find. The idea that Airbus will simply park the aircraft in the Brabazon hangars long-term seems daft to me, though. These buildings are prime aircraft maintenance space, capable of taking anything up to a Boeing 747, and Airbus cannot afford to rent this space indefinitely for an aircraft that isn't doing anything!
I think perhaps people should consider what Airbus' motives are for spending their money on a 'dead' aircraft. They spend their own money keeping the aircraft clean and maintaining it each week, for no financial gain. They rent the land that Alpha Foxtrot sits on, and allow visitors through their site to see it each week.
Perhaps the truth lies in something deeper than maintenance. It is no secret the the french are considering returning a Concorde to the air. After all the groundwork, engineering studies and paperwork are done, all by Airbus in Toulouse, there is no great difficulty in bringing a second aircraft out of retirement. And consider this: Alpha Foxtrot sits on the site where she was built; beside the hangars she was built in; alongside the runway she took her first flight from. The engineers who helped keep the fleet in the air for 27 years still work metres from the Brabazon hangars. Airbus UK are probably the only company in Britain capable of the project of that scale. And lastly, consider the question of national Pride. Do British Airways, the only company to make Concorde profitable, want a french Concorde in the air, advertising Air France, while all their own sit on the ground? Do the British people want a french Concorde performing a flypast at the 2012 Olympics because we can't get one of our own to do it? I think not. Rather than hurling abuse at Airbus UK, I think we should consider that they might, on the quiet, be bringing Alpha Fox back to life.

The only sensible option is for the aircraft to be donated to Bristol and then housed in the new M Shed museum. As people enter the British Museum in London they are faced with an iconic dinosaur and as people walk in to the M Shed they should be faced with Concorde. This will please everyone and it will be safe, kept spotless and be as big as the M Shed itself as a brand to attract people before they wonder along the dock to our award winning SS Great Britain. With this based in the M Shed it will be one of the leading museum destinations in the UK.

If the Bristol aircraft is to remain exposed to the elements then it will deteriorate to the point that it would be financially unviable to continue the essential maintenance to enable it to remain open to the public. The chances of the £13 million aircraft museum being built in which the Concorde will be housed gets more remote every day. The very best thing that can happen to the aircraft is that it is ¿mothballed¿ by Airbus UK and kept under cover so that some time in the future it can perhaps be opened once more to the public in a proper protective environment.